Will Labor Day weekend mean traffic galore for Baldwin Beach Express?

Baldwin County Engineer Cal Markert isn't sure the Labor Day holiday weekend will mean lots of traffic for the Baldwin Beach Express.

Markert said the new four-lane highway is showing up on Google maps, but other companies have been slow to put the road on their mapping systems.

"We really tried to get that on there several months ago," he said earlier this week. "It's taking longer than you'd think, so I really don't know what to expect."

Lots of people are expected to visit south Baldwin County for the long weekend. Markert can only hope they know there is a new way to get from the interstate to the beaches and won't clog Alabama 59 as they usually do.

"I know I am still seeing a lot of out of town traffic on 59," Markert said. "There is a lot of people that haven't found it yet, so I imagine it will take a cycle of summers and holidays before people really start getting on it."

The 12.8-mile Baldwin Beach Express stretches from Interstate 10 to the Foley Beach Express. Among the main reasons the road was built was to alleviate traffic on Alabama 59 and serve as a quick route to south Baldwin County's beaches.

An interchange opened two weeks ago, giving I-10 travelers access to the road. The interchange was the last part of the $86.7 million project to be finished.

The heaviest travelled portion of the Baldwin Beach Express, so far, has been near I-10. The average daily traffic count for that part of road is 7,423 vehicles.

In 2013, the most recent year statistics are available, the most travelled part of Alabama 59 was north of Alabama 180 in Gulf Shores. The average daily traffic count on that part of the road was 42,230 vehicles.

There are reasons to think visitors will be using the Baldwin Beach Express this weekend, and it will see an uptick in traffic as a result.

"I feel like we are going to have more people using it this weekend basically because the connection has been made to I-10," Robertsdale Police Chief Brad Kendrick said. "And they've advertised it very well, too."

There are signs on I-10 to make people aware of the highway. There are signs where the Baldwin Beach Express and Foley Beach Express intersect to let drivers know the Baldwin Beach Express can be used to get to I-10.

"There is a lot of education that has to happen," she said. "Visitors are used to taking 59. You have teach them a new habit."

Maghan said her office has been promoting the highway on social media and telling people about it when they call in with questions related to their visit.

She also said her office plans to meet in the next week to discuss a long-term plan for promoting the road. One thing the office will do is make sure the highway is mentioned in its 2015 visitors guide, Maghan said

"We are most definitely promoting it out there as an alternative way to get down here," Maghan said.

Gulf Shores Rentals has been trying get the word out about the highway, too. It has put a map of the highway on its Facebook page, website and smartphone app.

Gulf Shores Rentals manager Michael Monroe said the No. 1 complaint the company gets from customers is how bad traffic is on Alabama 59.

'We wanted to be really guest-friendly," he said. "We have a lot negativity about all the traffic on 59, and that guests can't get here. This really will alleviate it."